Guitars that changed my guitar life with one touch (what are yours and why?)

[fazool]

I'm not talking about guitars we necessarily own, but ones that made us say "WOW!"


For me it was these:


Some obscure unknown Taylor model. I had been researching and shopping for a good guitar after a two decade hiatus. I wandered into GC and picked up a Taylor and played it. I was blown away by the tone, the playability, everything. In that 30 seconds I fell in love with the brand and knew I would own a Taylor in the near future. This was my first ever case of GAS.

Taylor GS Mini Mahogany. Years later in the same GC store when these were still pretty new I picked one up. I played it and felt this rumble literally in my chest as I played. That introduced me to all-mahogany guitars, which I've owned seven since.

A Bourgeois OM-Jce. Used in the exact same GC store. They went through a very brief phase of stocking used boutique guitars. I saw this in the inventory list and raced down just to try it. This was my first taste of a high end luthier boutique guitar and it was everything everyone talks about. At that time, the best guitar I ever played.

A Taylor 818 at a Roadshow event. Too big for me - I love small guitars but I was flabbergasted by how powerful this guitar was. THis was the most powerful unamplified guitar I've ever played. Simply fantastic sound and power.

A Lowden F25 I played at the Podium. I fell so hard in love with the sound of this guitar. This is the best sounding and playing guitar I've ever touched. Beyond amazing.



These incidents, for me, were like musical religious experiences that stand out from the hundreds and hundreds of guitars I've played over decades.

[taylorgtr]

My '98 Taylor 514ce. It was my first 'expensive' guitar.

My first guitar was a "FAME" Asian knock-off of a Martin OM.....with a big single coil pickup, and volume / tone controls drilled into the plywood top. Somehow, I kept playing more than 6 months.

I upgraded from that to a Ventura D-41 copy - it was a HUGE step above the first guitar, and had decent action. Still, I wanted a 'real' guitar...so I bought...

An Ovation Legend. Shoot me. It was the '80s. Still, it played well on stage, and fit well with what I played at the time.

Back to the Taylor - it had great playability, and the cedar/mahogany combo was THE sound I'd been looking for. I've had it for 20 years, and any time I get tired of it, all I have to do is play a different guitar...and I realize how good the Taylor really is.

[Neil K Walk]

For me it was a rather well-aged Larrivee OM-03R hanging in the sun of a local guitar store that has long been out of business now. I remember that it looked like it had maybe had too much sun and there was some bear claw on the top that I found to be quite pleasing to the eye but when I picked it up and played it I knew that I had to have it. The fit and tone were exactly what I was looking for and it called to me. It was hard to walk out of the store without it.

Unfortunately, I never went back to claim it but a couple of years later another was gifted to me and eventually it's grown to be just as well-aged tonally.

[ChrisN]

'73 Guild D35 - sounded amazing (played by one who could).

[Boogie92801]

My CS 63 Sherwood forest green Telecaster. I have been playing it for about 13 years. Though I have had many before and since that guitar is the one I always go to.

[Toby Walker]

It was any guitar, as I was too young at the time to know the difference. For me, playing the guitar was a means to escape my neighborhood growing up. Once I started earning my living as a guitar player at age 17, I left and never looked back.

[lowrider]

This one;



It's an EllieBelle, made by Ben Wilborn. I saw him play it and it made me realize that custom guitars really are something special.

[SuperB23]

For me it was a Santa Cruz D/PW back in about 2002, it opened my eyes to what a lightly built responsive acoustic guitar can be.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by fazool

I'm not talking about guitars we necessarily own, but ones that made us say "WOW!"

Hi fazool

Olson Dreadnought - around 1988 - EIR/Cedar…
It was the best guitar I'd ever played and within 8 bars I wanted one. It led to me selling a 17 yr old wonderful D-28 (Martin), commissioning one, and it's been my main guitar for more than 25 years.

This guitar changes the way I think, arrange and play musically.

Between 1999-2004 I tested several hundred guitars to find a worthy match to the Olson to contrast and complement it. Everywhere we traveled, I arranged to play guitars. In 2004 I played a Bashkin at Michael's shop in Fort Collins, CO and immediately thought "This may be the guy."

He arranged for me to play more than ½ dozen owned by locals and by the 3rd one I knew I'd found my builder. In 2005 he delivered my OM - fanned fret - Myrtlewood/Italian Spruce which is my 2nd favorite in my personal collection.

The top two absolute best guitars I ever played are:
2005 at the Healdsburg Guitar Festival
Somogyi - OM - Brazilian Rosewood/Cedar - cutaway…best guitar I've played to this day.
Sheppard - Small body - Brazilian Rosewood/Cedar…2nd best guitar I've ever played. Amazing guitar. Gerald builds amazing instruments…

I remember a lot of guitars I've played, their characteristics and the way they affected me emotionally at the time.

Honorable mention…
Brian Applegate - SG cutaway and non-cutaway models
Kostal midsize body in 2013
Tim McKnight - "Diamond" guitar - double top, double back (and doubled sides if I remember correctly)…the most explosive dynamics I've ever encountered. And it had an abundance of sustain, and sounded as good at ppp as at fff.
Kevin Ryan - I've never played one I didn't really enjoy. Superior tone, responsiveness, sustain, projection etc.

Had I discovered Brian Applegate, Kevin Ryan, or Gerald Sheppard before 2004, they may have well been the one I chose to build the guitar to complement my Olson.

[LoboR1]

2015 Taylor 816ce. Full story of how this guitar changed my perspective posted earlier today in this forum.

[Kh1967]

A recent Martin D-18. That one guitar opened up my world to dreads. Who knew? :-)

[fitness1]

I actually have the moment documented.......first strum on my Acoustic Voice contest guitar, which was about 80% Mcknight magic.

This was my first strum on it picking it up at the Mcshop (Mary behind the camera)

Not only is it the most pleasing instrument I've owned, but the story behind it was pretty remarkable too.

Tim, Mary and I fought hard to make this happen in the face of lots distress over a four year period. They did their part and two of the other builders work in less than two months during a time when they had closed their own waiting list due to excessive orders.

There are no two finer people on the planet.

After reading through some of the other posts, I guess I better add another.

In '91 I was at Elderly Instruments (used to go about once a month back then) I walked into the higher end room and looked around. I saw this smaller bodied guitar with a florentine cutaway hanging on the wall. I went over and picked it up and and looked at the headstock - Taylor it said 'I think I've heard of them' I picked it up and played and and the 1 7/8 nut had me immediately mesmerized. Of course it sounded great, and then I looked at the price tag - 725 - what??? Sold to the man with the funny hair cut!!! I did about 1000 gigs with that guitar over the next 11 years and it was my one and only most of that time.

Then I found this place and everything went south

[jaymarsch]

3 come to mind:

A 1951 Herman Hauser II that I played at Schoenberg’s one day. Beautiful, dynamic tone rang out with the slightest touch and digging in brought a deep meaty sound. So balanced and nuanced.

The first Olson that I ever played at the 2003 Healdsburg Guitar Festival. An SJ cutaway with a spruce top. Played so easily and the tone was rich and pure. Responded so well to a light touch but you couldn’t overdrive it. Way beyond my budget or It would have come home with me.

Kramer Bois de Rose Prairie Grass - this guitar is so clear and balanced. The note separation and overtones live together in pleasing harmony. Responsive and voluminous.

The wonderful thing about these kind of experiences is that it keeps the calling alive and deepens my commitment to practicing even during those times when I don’t always feel much progress. Very inspiring.

Best,
Jayne

[Ed-in-Ohio]

I'd have to say my most recently acquired guitar, an Alvarez AJ80CE. The moment I started playing it, I knew it was a special guitar, and a perfect fit for me. This guitar has completely changed my "world view" regarding what is required (spec wise) for a guitar to be a "great guitar".

[zombywoof]

I only have one that fits into that category - a 1942 Gibson J-50. First,I love the neck carve and nut width. And from the first fat open E chord. I could hear this guitar had something I had not even heard with other Banners. Despite a separated back seam and four additional open back cracks, this instrument had a low end that would make a pre-War Martin D-28 herringbone run for cover. As these were the days when a part was considered finished when it looked "close enough, it was just luck of the draw.